Apparatus for cooling fish-plates in the process of manufacture.



No. 69!,355. Patent ed Jan. 2|, I902..

R. B. CHARLTON.

APPARATUS FOR COOLING FISH PLATES IN THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE.

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' No. 69l,355. Patnted Jan. -2|, I902;

a R. B. CHARLTON. APPARATUS ron cooum; nsn PLATES IN THE PROCESS or MANUFACTURE.

, (Application filed Dec. 15, 1900.) (No Model.)

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Patented. Ian. 2|, I902.

R. B. CHARLTON.

APPARATUS FOR COOLING FISH PLATES IN THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE.

(Application filed Dec. 15, 1900.!

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(No Model.)

I INVENTOR 2%.. nwnd .wmm -m ATTORNEYS,-

UNITED STATES PATENT FEicE.

RICHARD B. CHARLTON, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO THE CONTINUOUS RAIL JOINT COMPANY OF AMERICA, A CORPORATION OF NET/V JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR COOLING FISH-PLATES iN THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 691,355, dated January 21, 1902.

Application filed December 15, 1900. Serial No. 39,964. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD B. CHARLTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Cooling Fish-Plates in the Process of Manufacture; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of railway fish-plates or rail-joints, and particularly that fish-plate or joint shown in United States Patent No, 637,723, granted to Frederick T. Fearey, November 21, 1899.

More especially the invention relates to the cooling of the fish-plates in the process of manufacture, the objects being to provide a device for automatically handling the fishplates throughout said cooling operation, to regulate the position of the fish-plates as they enter the cooling-tank, to secure a plunging of the fish-plate into the tank in a sidewise position, whereby different points along its length are simultaneusly cooled, to thus prevent warping and twisting of the fish-plate in cooling, and to secure other advantages and results, some of which may be referred to hereinafter in connection with the description of the working parts.

The invention consists in the improved apparatus for cooling fish-plates in the process of manufacture and in the arrangements and combinations of parts of the same, all substantially as will be hereinafter set forth, and finally embraced in the clauses of the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of the several views, Figure l is a plan of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the receiving-conveyer and its guides. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, on line 00, Fig: 1, of the feeding device and cooling-tank. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the feeding device, taken the cooling-tank conveyer and its track. Fig.

7 is a sectional view on line a, Fig. 6; and Fig. Sis a section on line .2, Fig. 7.

In said drawings, a indicates a conveyer, which preferably consists of an endless belt made up of transverse slats or strips a, hinged together at their adjacent edges, the whole being provided at its sides with wheels or casters of, running on a track a and having between the rows of casters a chain belt a,

adapted to be engaged by sprocket-wheels a to transmit motion to the conveyer. Any other construction of conveyer adapted to transport the fish-plates may be used, however.

The fish-plates are usually delivered upon this conveyer a from the sawing-machine, which has cut them into proper lengths, and several of them fall upon the conveyer at once, lying end to end in a transverse row across the conveyer. They are then carried by the conveyer against fixed pins 1), one of which engages each plate at a point between its center and one of its ends, and thus the plates are turned at right angles to their former posi tion, or nearly so, and pass in between guideways 0 c, which compel the plates to travel along the conveyer in endwise position thereon and side by side with relation to each other. Said guideways c are supported slightly above the conveyer in any suitable 8;

manner, and the tu rning-pins b preferably depend from a transverse bar I), held in horizontal position above the conveyer by legs or stands 11 having slots or slideways 19 in which the pins are adjustable. brought into proper lengthwise position on the conveyer a by the guides c the fish-plates are passed from said conveyer onto another conveyer d, forming a part of the feeding device. right angles to the direction of movement of the conveyer a, the end of the conveyer abeing closely adjacent to one side of the feeding-conveyer (Z, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5,

and the fish-plates are deposited on the said I00 After being This feeding-conveyer d moves at feeding-conveyer transversely of its length and at short distances apart. To bring the series of fish-plates thus deposited upon the feeding-conveyer d into alinement so that their ends are even, I employ a stop-bar e at the opposite side of the feeding-conveyer d from where the fish-plates are delivered by the conveyer a and against which the fishplates may strike and be stopped as they are slid onto the feeding-conveyer d. Said stopbar is supported by plunger-like arms or extensions e, projecting rearward through blocks e and having springs a between said blocks and the stop-bar to secure a relative freedom between the bar and fish-plates, so that the fish-plates will travel with the conveyer (1 without materially dragging against the stop-bar. The blocks 6 in turnslide in ways a and are adjusted by screws e to secure the proper position of the stop-bar for different lengths of fish-plates.

The feeding-conveyer d carries the fishplates forward to the cooling-tank conveyer f; but instead of being transferred directly to the said cooling-tank conveyer the plates are transferred by a tilting table g, which insures their being placed on the cooling-tank conveyer at exactly right angles to the direction of movement, any irregularity of dispo sition on the feeding device being thereby corrected. This tilting table is disposed at the end of the feeding'conveyer (1, being preferably pivoted on the shaft 11 of the sprocket wheel driving said conveyer, so that the fishplates pass easily onto the table, a counterweight g serving to keep the table elevated unless overbalanced by the weight of a fishplate.

To insure that the table shall not tip todischarge a fish-plate until both ends of the plate rest upon the table, thus securing proper right-angular position of the fish-plate, the table has at each side a trip-plate h, hinged at its forward end on the table and at its rear end having a pawl h, extending downward into engagement, under normal conditions, with a stop It on the standards 1' or other fixed part of the machine. A springj, pressing upward on such trip-plate, normally holds its pawl h in engagement with the stop 7L2, but under the weight of a fish-plate the trip-plate his depressed against the spring j and its pawl released. The table will not tilt, however, until both pawls are released, and hence the fish-plate must lie straight across the table, so as to engage both trip-plates before it can be discharged.

When the tilting table tips, the fish-plate passes therefrom by an incline to the guiderails ll of the cooling-tank, across which rails it lies transversely, ready to be caught and carriedalong by dogs q on a chain conveyer m, running through the tank or trough. Said cooling-tank n is preferably about thirty-two inches (more or less) wide and seventy feet (more or less) long and is supported by legs or supports n in any suitable way. Sprocketwheels 0 are arranged at the ends of the trough, and over these runs the chain conveyerm, before referred to, said conveyor following the track Z into the tank at its upper side and returning beneath the tank, as shown in Fig. 3.

The guide-rails Z extend from sprocketwheel tosprocket-wheel above the tank and at the ends of said tank incline gradually down into the tank and extend along the bottom submerged. These rails are in practice about fourteen inches (more or less) apart and have recesses or grooves Z in their facing sides, adapted to provide runways for the opposite wheels 19 of small trucks p, placed about eight inches apart and connected along their centers by the chain m. The tops of the rails form slideways along which the fishplates may be pushed in transverse position, such pushing being accomplished by dogs projecting up from the trucks p to engage the fish-plates from behind as they lie across the rails.

It will be noted that by means of my tipping table It and the dogs g on the coolingtank conveyer the fish-plates approach the water of the cooling-tank parallel to the surface thereof, and when they are submerged all points along the length of the fish-plates strike the water at the same instant, so that there is no cooling of one end portion of the fish-plate while the other end is still hot, which results in warping or twisting the fishplates. By my improved appliances the fishplate is cooled uniformly along its length and a more true and perfect fish-plate secured.

The cooling-tank has a supply of running cold water, which is kept at a depth of about twenty-four inches, and when the fish-plates are delivered at the opposite end of the trough from where they entered they are sufficiently cooled for punching or such other operations as theyare to be next subjected to. As they then come out of the water on the conveyer f they can be received into any suitable receptacle or upon another traveling conveyer, as may be desired. The conveyer f returns beneath the tank a on a supporting-track r.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is- 1. In an apparatus for cooling fish-plates or the like, the combination with a coolingtank, of rails Z, extending through the tank and forming a slideway on which the fishplates may lie transversely, and abelt adapted to travel longitudinally of said slideway and having dogs to engage fish-plates lying on the slideway. l

2. In an apparatus for cooling fishplates or the like, the combination with a coolingtank, of rails Z, extending through said tank and providing at their upper surface a slideway for fish-plates to lie across, a belt adapted to travel longitudinally of said rails, crosspieces onsaid belt engaging a lower surface of the rails and held below the level of the slideway and dogs on said cross-pieces pro- IIO jecting upward to engage fish-plates on the slideway.

3. In an apparatus for cooling fish-plates, the combination with a cooling-tank, of rails Z, extending through the tank and providing at their upper surfaces a slideway for transversely-disposed fish-plates and having their facing sides longitudinally grooved, a belt adapted to travel longitudinally of said rails, cross-pieces attached to said belt with Wheels at the ends working in said grooves, and dogs on said cross-pieces extending above the slideway.

4. In an apparatus for cooling fish-plates, the combination with a bath or tank,'of a slideway extending through said tank and being adapted to directly support a fish-plate at points at or near its opposite ends and hold the same always horizontal, and means for sliding the fish-plates along said slideway.

5. In an apparatus for cooling fish-plates, the combination with a bath or tank, of two rails extending through the said bath or tank and adapted to support a fish-plate from be low at two points near its ends, whereby the exterior surface of the fish-plate is freely exposed to the bath, and means forsliding fishplates along said rails in position substantially at right angles thereto.

6. The combination of the tank at, having sprocket-wheels 0, arranged at each end, an

endless conveyer running over said sprocketwheels and through the tank and returning beneath the tank and being adapted to carry fish-plates or the like through the tank, an incline 7;, above the conveyer, and means for feeding fish-plates down said incline in transverse positions with respect to the conveyer, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with a conveyer a, adapted to receive fish-plates lying end to end in a transverse line across the conveyer, of turning-pins 1), arranged vertically above the conveyer, and guides 0, beyond said pins, whereby the fish -plates are each turned at right angles to its former position, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination with a conveyer ct, adapted to receive a fish-plate or the like lying transversely across the conveyer, of a vertical pin 1), above the conveyer independent thereof, and adapted to engage the fishplate intermediate of its center and one of its ends as the same is carried forward by the conveyer, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination with a conveyer a, adapted to transport a transverse series of parallel fish-plates or the like lying longitudinally of the conveyer, of a second conveyer cl, moving at right angles to the direction of movement of the first-mentioned conveyer and having its side closely contiguous to the 10. The combination'with a broad conveyer a, adapted to transport transverse series of longitudinally-disposed fish-plates or the like, of a narrow conveyer (Z, moving at right angles to the direction of movement of the broad conveyer, and having one of its sides closely contiguous to an end of the broad conveyer, the fish-plates being deposited by the firstmentioned conveyer directly upon the second in transverse position, and an elastically-supported adjustable stop-bar at the opposite side of the narrow conveyer from the delivery end of the broad conveyer, substantially as set forth. I Y

11. The combination with a conveyer d, adapted to carry fish-plates or the like, lying transversely of its direction of movement, of a tilting table hinged at the end of said conveyer and onto which each fish-plate falls, said tilting table having at each side tripping means which must be engaged by the opposite ends of the fish-plate to cause a tipping of the table, substantially as set forth.

12. The combination with a conveyor, of a tilting table adapted to receive fish-plates or the like from said conveyer and drop them in a position at right angles to the direction of movement of the conveyer, said tilting table being pivoted on horizontal bearings and adapted to fall under the weight of a fishplate, and said table having at its opposite sides independent retaining means which must be simultaneously engaged by the opposite ends of a fish-plate to release the table, substantially as set forth.

13. The combination with a conveyer, of a tilting table adapted to turn on a horizontal axis under the weight of a fish-plate orthe like and having a counterbalance normally holding it-in position, said table havinga plurality of independent pawls engaging fixed stops to lock the table in normal position, and trip-plates each connected to a pawl and adapted to release the same when depressed by a fish-plate, substantially as set forth.

14:. The herein-described tilting table for I dropping fish-plates or the like in a predetermined position, having a pivoted body portion adapted to tip under the weight of a fish-plate, and said body portion having separate and independent catches looking it in elevated position and adapted to be released only by simultaneous engagement by difierent parts of the fish-plates, substantially as set forth.

15. A tilting table for dropping fish-plates or the like in a given position, having a pivoted body portion, and independent pawls on said body portion engaging fixed stops to lock the table against tipping, said pawls being adapted to be simultaneously engaged by op posite end portions of the fish-plate before the table will be free to tip under the weight of the fish-plate, substantially as set forth.

16. In a tilting table, the combination of a body portion, tripping-plates hinged on said body portion and having pawls adapted to normally engage fixed stops and lock the ta- I In testimony that I claim the foregoing I ble in elevated position, springs holding said 1 have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of tripping-plates with their pawls in locking December, 1900. position, and a counterbalance adapted to re- RICHARD B. CHARLTON. store the table to elevated position after dis- Witnesses:

charging its contents, substantially as set M. E. CHRISTENSEN,

forth. HUGH P. KAYE, 

